VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday strongly condemned violence against women, telling in his New Year’s Day homily that “to hurt a woman is to insult God.”
Francis celebrated a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church marks both the solemnity of Holy Mary Mother of God as well as its annual World Day of Peace.
At the start of the Mass, the pope walked the entire length of the central aisle of basilica, as opposed to Friday night, when he emerged from a side entrance close to the altar and watched from the sidelines.
Francis wove his New Year’s homily around the themes of motherhood and women, saying it was they who kept together the threads of life and used it to make one of his strongest calls yet for an end to violence against them.
“And since mothers bestow life, and women keep the world (together), let us all make greater efforts to promote mothers and to protect women,” Francis said.
In a reference to Jesus’ mother Mary, he said, “How much violence is directed against women! Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God, who from a woman took on our humanity -not through an angel, not directly, but through a woman.”
During an Italian television programme last month, Francis told a woman who had been beaten by her ex-husband that men who commit violence against women engage in something that is “almost satanic”.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began nearly two years ago, Francis has several times spoken out against domestic violence, which has increased in many countries since lockdowns left many women trapped with their abusers.
Public participation at the Mass was lower than in some past years because of Covid restrictions. Italy, which surrounds Vatican City, reported a record 144,243 coronavirus related cases on Friday and has recently imposed new measures such as an obligation to wear masks outdoors.
In the text of his Message for the World Day of Peace, issued last month, Francis said nations should divert money spent on armaments to invest in education, and decried growing military costs at the expense of social services.
